Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A touch module, comprising: a substrate having a visible area and a peripheral area located around the visible area; a first touch sensing layer extending from the visible area to the peripheral area of the substrate; a metal wiring layer located in the peripheral area of the substrate and laterally separated from the first touch sensing layer; and a transparent conductive layer located in the peripheral area of the substrate, wherein the transparent conductive layer has a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is in contact with the first touch sensing layer and the second portion is in contact with the metal wiring layer.
2. The touch module of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the transparent conductive layer is located between the substrate and the first touch sensing layer, and the second portion of the transparent conductive layer is located between the substrate and the metal wiring layer.
3. The touch module of claim 1 , wherein the transparent conductive layer further extends to the visible area of the substrate.
4. The touch module of claim 1 , wherein the metal wiring layer and the first touch sensing layer are separated by a lateral distance, and the lateral distance is between 5 μm and 15 μm.
5. The touch module of claim 1 , further comprising at least one insulating layer covering an upper surface of the metal wiring layer and extending between the first touch sensing layer and the metal wiring layer.
6. The touch module of claim 5 , wherein a width of the insulating layer is between 10 μm and 20 μm.
7. The touch module of claim 5 , wherein the insulating layer further extends to cover an outer sidewall of the metal wiring layer.
8. The touch module of claim 5 , wherein the transparent conductive layer further has a third portion located between the first portion and the second portion, and the third portion is in contact with the insulating layer.
9. The touch module of claim 5 , wherein an outer sidewall of the first touch sensing layer is aligned with an inner sidewall of the insulating layer.
10. The touch module of claim 5 , wherein the first touch sensing layer further extends to cover an upper surface of the insulating layer.
11. The touch module of claim 10 , wherein an outer sidewall of the first touch sensing layer is aligned with an outer sidewall of the insulating layer.
12. The touch module of claim 1 , further comprising a second touch sensing layer located in the visible area of the substrate and between the substrate and the first touch sensing layer, wherein a material of the second touch sensing layer is identical to a material of the transparent conductive layer.
13. The touch module of claim 1 , wherein a material of the transparent conductive layer comprises indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, cadmium tin oxide, aluminum-doped zinc oxide, or combinations thereof.
14. The touch module of claim 1 , wherein the first touch sensing layer comprises a matrix and a plurality of metal nanostructures distributed in the matrix.
15. The touch module of claim 1 , further comprising a light shielding layer located between the substrate and the transparent conductive layer.
16. The touch module of claim 1 , further comprising a water vapor barrier layer laterally extending on the first touch sensing layer, the metal wiring layer, and the transparent conductive layer, wherein the water vapor barrier layer comprises an inorganic material.
17. The touch module of claim 16 , wherein the inorganic material comprises a silicon-nitrogen compound, a silicon-oxygen compound, or combinations thereof.
18. The touch module of claim 16 , wherein the water vapor barrier layer extends to cover an outer sidewall of the first touch sensing layer and an outer sidewall of the metal wiring layer.
19. The touch module of claim 16 , further comprising at least one coating layer located between the water vapor barrier layer and the first touch sensing layer.
20. The touch module of claim 19 , wherein the water vapor barrier layer further extends to cover an outer sidewall of the coating layer.
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March 1, 2022
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